Superintendent gets an eyeful

A 25-year-old table dancer said in court today that she had acted of her own free will when she exposed her breasts in order to entice a man to buy a table dance at a club, but she did so at the precise moment that a police superintendent entered the premises.

Romanian Daniela Dinu was giving evidence in a case instituted against company director Joseph Zammit, 38 of St Julian's and club manager Duncan Fenech 36, of Mgarr. They are pleading not guilty to running a brothel or having their place used for prostitution or for immoral acts. They also deny employing people illegally.

Ms Dinu, in giving evidence, said she was employed as a dancer at The Private Club, which forms part of the Plush wine bar in Paceville.

She danced on stage and performed table dances for clients. Clients would pay €20 for table dances, of which she got €10.

On the night in question, a client had already bought two table dances. In order to entice him to buy a third table dance, she exposed her breasts to him. This was only for a few seconds, but at that time a policeman - Supt Stephen Gatt -  walked in and saw her do this.

She said she was not given any instructions by the management to do this and she had acted out of her own free will. She insisted she was not a prostitute.

Ms Dinu said there were about 15 dancers in the club. She was on a contract which guaranteed that 'nothing bad' would happen to her. She was registered as a self-employed person and the club hired her services.

The customers were adults and voluntarily entered the bar. There was a notice on the door which stated that clients had to be over 21 years old, and this notice could also be found on every table.

Clients who paid for a table dance were taken behind a thick curtain and every booth was then surrounded by a transparent curtain. Other people could see what was going on and the people at the bar also had clear line of sight. Clients were not allowed to touch the dancers.

Members of staff were specifically tasked to evict anyone who touched the dancers.

Ms Dinu said she danced in clubs all over Europe.

Both men were granted bail against a deposit of €300 and a personal guarantee of €1,000.

In a separate arraignment, Ms Dinu was fined €150 for having exposed her breasts to the customer.